SF
Guide

Curated by a local tour guide.
What I recommend on tour, collected in one place.

Neighborhoods

All 35 neighborhoods →
Pacific Heights

Pacific Heights is the hilltop of mansions and bay views above the Marina, with Fillmore Street shopping and…

1 restaurants 2 things to do
Chinatown

Chinatown is the oldest Chinatown in North America: two dozen blocks of dim sum, temple-lined alleys, and herb…

7 restaurants 5 things to do
The Tenderloin

The Tenderloin is one of San Francisco's densest neighborhoods, home to Little Saigon, historic SRO hotels, and a…

2 restaurants 13 things to do
Marina District

The Marina is a flat bayfront neighborhood of Chestnut Street cafes and yoga studios, home to the Palace…

1 restaurants 7 things to do
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Where to Eat

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Humphry Slocombe

Great ice cream shop in the ferry building.

$$ The Embarcadero Ice Cream

Hon’s Wun-Tun House

Hong Kong-style wonton noodle soup with hand-wrapped wontons and clean broth. So Tasty!

$ Chinatown Chinese

Sotto Mare

Great Italian seafood in North Beach. Known for their Cioppino.

$ North Beach Italian Seafood

Tadich Grill

Operating since 1849, widely cited as California's oldest restaurant.

$$ Financial District Seafood
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Things to Do

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Classic

16th Avenue Tiled Steps

163 steps covered in more than 2,000 handmade tiles and roughly 75,000 glass fragments, opened August 27, 2005. The sea-to-sky mosaic by Aileen Barr and Colette Crutcher reads from below looking up. Base at 16th and Moraga in the Inner Sunset, top opens onto Grandview Park.

free
Classic

Held Over

Haight Street vintage shop organized by decade, 1940s through 1990s, with European vintage (German lederhosen and dirndls, Italian leather) alongside Americana, Hawaiiana, western wear, and denim. Also rents costumes, so it gets busy around Halloween. 1543 Haight, open daily.

$$
Classic

Free Gold Watch

Around 60 pinball machines tucked behind an active screen printing shop at 1767 Waller, with games at 50 cents to a dollar. Some tables come on rotating loan from the Pacific Pinball Museum. Bring quarters, one block south of Haight.

free
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Written by someone who actually does this every day

I've been a San Francisco tour guide for years. These aren't hot takes from a travel writer who flew in for a weekend—they're the answers I give people every single day.

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Tourist Traps Worth It

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Questions I Get Daily

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Insider Tips

What the locals know